Think about a backup band for a modern pop musician.

You're probably imagining guitars, drums, maybe a keyboard.

One instrument you're probably not thinking of is the harp.

But it's there more often than you might think.

Like listen to the song Shadow by Kesha.

So, let you shadow out of my sunshine. Like listen to the song Shadow by Kesha. If you really tune in and listen closely, you can hear the melodic strumming.

The musician that's on the harp here is named Mary Latimore.

And playing this huge ancient instrument in a modern setting is kind of her jam.

She's toured with the pop duo Beach House,

and she's recorded with singer-songwriters like Kurt Vile and Thurston Moore. I actually

once saw Mary at a concert in Athens in Greece. She played outside. It was like a million degrees,

and there were these huge wildfires happening nearby.

It was so hot and ashes were raining down and playing this ancient wooden instrument

for these amazing people that were just like enduring the heat and the fires.

It was so interesting and so fun, but also so dark.

Yeah.

That's Mary talking to me recently from her home in Los Angeles.

Mary's music is fairly improvisational.

It adapts and builds and morphs.

When she's playing, she's going through repeating loops,

which are like variations on the same melody over and over.

And those loops are almost like musical snowflakes.

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